The future of Chinese tennis could not be brighter with 18-year-old Wu Yibing leading the charge. But on Friday, the #NextGenATP star took a trip into the past while competing at the ATP Challenger Tour event in Ningbo.

Wu visited one of the oldest drum towers in China, located in the heart of the city. The teen, who is soaring up the Emirates ATP Rankings after lifting his first Challenger tilte in Shanghai in September, took a tour of the tower complex with his team - coaches Nahum Garcia Sanchez and Chen Yanbei and physiotherapist Antonio Torres. The three-story structure atop the city gate served as a war-time lookout post. The bell tower forms part of the ancient city wall, with portions of an old grain storage house used in the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) still standing nearby.

"It is cool to see something like this in Ningbo," Wu said. "We are always traveling and it's nice to get away from the courts and see things in the city. There is a lot of history here. Thanks to the ATP for this opportunity."

Wu, who also made his ATP World Tour debut at the Chengdu Open earlier this month, is coming off an appearance at the Shanghai Rolex Masters. He is up to No. 321 in the Emirates ATP Rankings and is looking towards 2018 as he continues to plot his ascent.

"I felt really nervous when I entered the centre court against Gilles Simon," Wu said about competing at his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event. "I was shaking a little bit, but I think I adapted well. I was thankful they gave me the wild card, but I need to keep playing my way and there is no pressure. I will focus on my tennis and not think about other things. It's all about the work I do outside of the match court. The experience showed me that I have to work harder."

Chinese teenager spars as hitting partner for the stars in London
The future of Chinese tennis has never looked brighter than in 2017, when 18-year-old Wu Yibing burst onto the ATP World Tour. Wu became the fourth player in the past five years to win a junior Grand Slam title and an ATP Challenger Tour crown in the same season after his triumph at the US Open and the Shanghai Challenger event, which earned him a wild card into the Shanghai Rolex Masters.
This week, the Chinese teenager and fellow 18-year-old, Miomir Kecmanovic of Serbia, were hitting partners for some of the ATP World Tour’s biggest names at the Nitto ATP Finals in London. Both are former junior No. 1s and claimed their first ATP Challenger Tour titles in recent months – Wu in Shanghai and Kecmanovic in Suzhou, China. Wu spoke to atpworldtour.com.
How do you feel to come to the Nitto ATP Finals as a hitting partner?
It’s my pleasure to be invited to London. I know Stefanos Tsitsipas was in this position last year. Obviously, he absorbed lots of good things from London and made it into his own. He made the breakthrough this year and found his place in the Top 100. I am hoping that I can do the same thing – learn as much as I can from this week from the best players in the world and show that in my play.
What is it like to practise with Dominic Thiem and Grigor Dimitrov?
Thiem is the first player I hit with this year. He is a really powerful groundstroke-hitter. I can feel his ball was very heavy with lots of spin. He always prefers long rallies, so practice with him is more physically demanding. As for Dimitrov, he usually prefers to focus on certain skills. For example, he will put lots of time into just practising his serve or volley. His hitting is really quick and more accurate Both players are very nice and easy going guys. I enjoyed and learnt a lot from them.
How about hitting with Roger Federer?
We practised twice this week. The first time we practised on centre court of The O2. I was very nervous before I got on court, but he is so friendly and it made me feel much better. We only practised 30 minutes this time. The next day we had another practice section at the Queen’s Club. This one lasted one hour. Roger’s control of the ball was the best I have ever seen. He can play a drop shot or he can hit the ball hard and flat and you can’t predict in advance. Practising with Roger, you know he is really in good form, but I think I did a great job. I am so grateful for this opportunity.
During the break, Roger shared a story with me about his close friend Marco Chiudinelli who recently retired. They used to practise together when they were just teenagers. They loved to have a small competition to make the practice more fun. So there is one about serve and return. They both got to serve to the other by standing on the serve’s line. If one of them made one return, it would give them a huge advantage to win the competition. He was really enjoying [telling the story] and I couldn’t stop laughing. I guess he probably was thinking about those old days with his close friend.
What do you want to learn from Roger?
Roger is a very nice and easy-going guy, but at the same time, you can feel his confidence in tennis and maybe with everything. Roger is my second favourite player. I really hope I can be a nice and confident guy like him one day. If I can have one of his techniques, I would want to have the volley skills like him.
If you got a chance to play a match with one of the eight players in London, who would that be?
Definitely Roger. After practising with him, I actually talked to my physical trainer and asked if Roger played like this in a tour match against me, whether I might have a chance. Of course I know he is way better than what he shows at training. That’s why I want to play him, see how big the gap between us really is.
What is the most unfortunate part of this trip?
I was hoping that I might have a chance to hit with Andy Murray because he is my favourite player. I love everything about him. It’s a shame that it did not happen, but I did run into him during this trip. It was a bit awkward as I just get out from the toilet at the gym centre as he was about to get in. He said hi to me but I was completely frozen. Andy and I both had a training session to finish that day in the gym and even though I really wanted to have a picture with him, I thought maybe it’s best to leave him alone since he is so focused on the training.
What is your schedule after London?
I will go back to Hangzhou and prepare for the Australian Open Wild Card tournament, which will be held in Zhuhai. After this tournament, I will go to Monaco because Dimitrov invited me to go there to train with him. I will be spending more than 10 days with him there. After Monaco, I will go to Barcelona and train with Albert Ramos-Vinolas for the rest of December. My first tournament for 2018 is a Challenger event in Thailand.
What will you focus on during the December training?
Mostly physical as 2018 will be my first full year after I turned pro. I will need to have my body ready for the tough schedule and avoid injuries. Besides, I would love to improve my serve, return and volley.
On a scale of 1 to 10, what do you expect for 2018?
A 10, especially for those two December training blocks. That could be the best thing ever to happen to my tennis career. I just want to enjoy those times with Dimitrov and Ramos-Vinolas, learn as much as I can and get myself prepared for 2018.

“I doubt about myself, I think the doubts are good in life. The people who don’t have doubts I think only two things: arrogance or not intelligence.”

"When these kind of matches happen you suffer, but I really enjoy these moments. I really enjoy suffering, because what's harder is when I am in Mallorca last year and I had to watch these kind of matches on the TV."

China's rising star opens in Auckland against Ferrer
There is certainly no lack of hype surrounding China’s Wu Yibing. It was a landmark year for the 18-year-old in 2017, after all.

The right-hander served as a practice partner at the Nitto ATP Finals, played his first two ATP World Tour main draws in Chengdu and Shangha, won both the boys’ singles and doubles titles at the US Open, reached the top spot in the junior rankings, and perhaps most impressively, claimed his first ATP Challenger Tour title in Shanghai — becoming the fourth player in five years to win a junior Slam and a Challenger title in the same season.

Capturing that trophy at 17, Yibing was also one of just four players aged 17 or younger to win on the ATP Challenger Tour. He beat Yen-Hsun Lu — the all-time title leader at that level with 29 triumphs — in the final.

But as the World No. 314 begins his first full season on the ATP World Tour at the ASB Classic in Auckland, Yibing knows that he still has a lot to learn as the opponents get tougher.

“I played two tournaments [at the] ATP [level] in China,” Yibing said. “I feel the level is a big, big difference than juniors. So for me the main thing is to try to learn from them, try to raise my ranking and help my technique and tactics.”

If the #NextGenATP star is looking to learn from the stars of the ATP World Tour, he is in luck this week. The youngest player from China to win an ATP Challenger Tour title will get to play one of the most experienced competitors on the tour in his opening match of the season: seventh seed David Ferrer.

The Spaniard (35) is nearly twice Yibing’s age and has played 1,068 more tour-level matches. Ironically, they share a favoured playing style.

“I like making my opponent move,” Yibing said with a smile. “I think this is one of my favorite techniques.”

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It is safe to say fans of the ATP World Tour will get to see him do that for years to come. And since Yibing broke onto the scene with his US Open victory, he has noticed the uptick in attention.

“After I won the US Open, there was lots of media [that] came to me,” Yibing said. “It was like my life changed a little bit. But for me, I’m happy for this because this is also in my mind.”

Yibing is ready for the journey, but is not looking too far ahead. His focus is solely on his opening tournament of 2018. In a way, the fact that he is in Auckland playing a tour-level event is still surreal.

“I’m excited to come here,” Yibing said. “Even the flight, I was talking about [it with] my coach. It’s a little bit amazing that I can come here.”

Chinese teen eyes fresh start after injury-plagued 2018
Exactly one year ago, the future of Chinese tennis had begun his ascent. Teenager Wu Yibing was coming off an appearance in his first ATP Challenger Tour semi-final in just his fourth main draw, on home soil in Chengdu.

You might be well aware of Wu's story by now. A historic run of fortune would ensue for the Hangzhou native. One month later, he would go on to become the first player from China to lift the US Open Boys' singles trophy, which was immediately followed by another historic triumph at the Shanghai Challenger, becoming the first Chinese teen to prevail at the level.

Wu was surging up the ATP Rankings, peaking on the doorstep of the Top 300 in November, at No. 301. But as the budding Chinese star was putting the emerging tennis market on the map, his body waved the white flag.

"We planned to play more tournaments after I finished 2017, but my body has not been performing well since the beginning of the year," said Wu. "So we took some time off and tried to recover and re-build my confidence. We put in a lot of time on physical training. My body obviously is getting bigger, so I am working to improve my arm strength, my core strength and fitness."

A catalogue of injuries sidelined Wu for a combined four months thus far in 2018. After making his season debut at the ATP World Tour event in Auckland, he struggled to maintain his health. But with a new priority on fitness and nutrition, the 18-year-old is ready to resume his assault on the ATP Rankings. This week, he reached the quarter-finals in Chengdu, pushing top seed Henri Laaksonen to three sets.

"I still need to get more confidence," Wu added. "I played at the junior level more than the professional level last year and it's a completely different world. Opponents are much stronger here and there are a lot of high-level tournaments in China now. It's important to get into this atmosphere and try to learn as much as possible.

"We need to focus on the details during practice in order to find my rhythm again. I have to have more confidence in my new coaching team and give myself more time to manage the new things they bring to me. I do believe in myself and in them."

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That new coaching team Wu speaks of has been a signficant change this year. The teenager signed with IMG at the start of the year and the organization set him up with an entire new camp in his corner, including two fitness trainers, a technical coach and Sven Groeneveld.

Groeneveld has plenty of experience coaching at the highest level, having guided former Top 10 players Michael Stich, Greg Rusedski, Mario Ancic, Tommy Haas and Nicolas Kiefer, as well as WTA stars Monica Seles, Mary Pierce, Ana Ivanovic, Caroline Wozniacki and most recently Maria Sharapova. He will spend 20 weeks of the year with his new Chinese charge.

Read: Wu Yibing Visits Ancient Drum Tower In Ningbo

"I have to learn how to control myself on the court and Sven has given me a lot of suggestions during our training. But after all, I am the one who will put them in action. I am the one going on court and playing. Sven wants me to be more mature and take responsbility. I know am very lucky because I am a Chinese player, but he does not want me to see it as some kind of pressure. He wants me to be more relaxed and doing things that could help my tennis career.

"Also, I will spend most of my off-season training time at IMG Academy in Florida. I really like my new team. They are very professional and have a lot of experience. We are now more focused on the details and I feel my training sessions are more effective because of that."

For now, Wu is focused on taking it one step at a time. After such a disappointing injury spell, he is not giving himself any ATP Rankings goals for the rest of the year. The teen believes that with the right mentality and physical state, the results will follow.

"I know I have some huge ranking points to defend, but I don’t see it as pressure. I think it will give me more motivation to do better. I know I am far from my best, but it takes time to find my top level. I want to show people my ambition and courage on the court. Even if I lose, it's ok. I can only improve. I will play as many tournaments as possible when I feel my body can handle it."

18-year-old will next face Nishikori
Yibing Wu, China's top young male player, won his first ATP World Tour match on Monday at the Rolex Shanghai Masters. The 18-year-old beat countryman and fellow wild card Zhe Li 7-6(5), 6-2 at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event.
“I am very happy to win my first match in ATP World Tour. This is definitely my best performance in the past couple months,” Wu said. “Li Zhe was playing well from the beginning, putting me in very stressful situations. But I still managed to turn this around. So I am very pleased about it.”
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The 2017 US Open junior boys' champion had been 0-5 in ATP World Tour matches, including recent back-to-back losses at the Chengdu Open in Chengdu and the China Open in Beijing. He will next meet eighth seed Kei Nishikori, Asia's biggest male tennis star, who reached the final of the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships 2018 on Sunday (l. to Medvedev).
View Shanghai Draw
“I am very excited to have a chance to play Nishikori next round,” Wu said. “[Playing] against a top player like Kei is something I always look forward to. As a younger player, I have nothing to lose. Just hoping that I can bring out my best to this match.”